Now that Karen had trudged off to wash up in utter dejection, I sat in a chair chewing on grilled meat, sulking. Because just now, Karen had made me expect something—only for me to completely misunderstand.
(Seriously… he never does things like that! Why today of all days!?)
He touched my face, held my chin, stared at me with that serious expression, and slowly leaned in. Anyone would think he want kiss me! I even shut my eyes on instinct, waiting for my first kiss.
But then he came out with that baffling line: "You seem a little lazy lately."
And he let go of my chin.
I snapped my eyes open, only to see Karen's face already back to its usual distance.
My mind was too scrambled to even process what that sentence meant. I flushed with embarrassment from having misunderstood, then felt disappointed because he didn't mean it that way, then confused by his bizarre behavior, and finally furious—because clearly all of this was Karen's fault.
So I kicked him, very hard.
And yes, he was obviously shocked. But there was no way I could say I was angry because I had mistaken his intentions, so instead I told him he smelled and ordered him to wash.
When little Lani ran back to me earlier, she had covered her nose with her hand. And when I handed Karen some meat, I could clearly smell his sweat. He was a little smelly.
After a while, as I kept eating, I finally calmed down and began thinking about what Karen had said. The past few days I really had been lazing around in the tourist zone.
After lunch, when Lani needed her nap, I would nap with her out of boredom. I hadn't exercised at all. I either sat around or lay around.
This situation was exactly what Karen meant—we had become way too relaxed. We needed to find something to do.
Then I imitated what Karen had done earlier. I pinched my cheek… and felt something off. I touched my arms, stomach, legs… and realization hit me like a bolt of lightning.
(I got fat!?)
I almost screamed. My arms, my belly, my thighs—everything felt softer and thicker. No… maybe it was just my imagination.
I hurried off to find a scale, desperately hoping for mercy.
But reality struck a devastating blow.
I had really put on weight.
What do I do!? I got way too lazy…
Just then, Karen walked by, freshly washed and looking annoyingly refreshed. His gaze swept down to the scale in front of me. Then he spoke.
"Do you want to exercise with me tomorrow?"
Gentle, considerate Karen. Instead of hurting my feelings, he chose to phrase it like he wanted my company. And despite spending seven days building our new house without rest, he was willing to use his break to help me lose weight.
"Mm…" I nodded.
A spark of determination ignited within me.
For Karen, who was willing to spend his precious rest time on me—
I would give it everything I had, slim down properly, and become even thinner than before!
Just now, when I saw Lina looking a little depressed while standing on the scale, I figured she'd finally understood what I told her. So I invited her to exercise with me, using the excuse of keeping her company—and she agreed.
After that, Lina took Lani to shower, leaving me alone to grill the meat. For some reason, in that moment, I felt like I had just won the world… yet it was strangely lonely despite the delicious smell.
The next day, October 8th, we returned to the front of our house. Our new home was finally going to be revealed. I took out the remote and pressed the button; the gate swung open.
Let me start introducing our new place. The first floor has a living room, kitchen, study, movie room, a washitsu, and a restroom.
The moment you open the door, it's the living room. Nothing special—it has everything it should. Same for the kitchen and study.
The movie room, as the name implies, is for watching movies. But to watch movies, you need atmosphere. First, I installed soundproof panels on the walls to keep the noise from leaking out. Then I added an air conditioner—nothing beats cool air in a hot place. It's just a shame air conditioners harm the ozone layer, so I only installed one. Finally, I fixed a projector to the ceiling and connected it to a tablet loaded with every movie imaginable.
The washitsu was something I built extra—Lina didn't know about it. I replaced all the walls with sliding paper doors. I also added a corridor and installed a glass door to keep rain from entering. We can occasionally have meals there.
I built the washitsu at the back of the house because I imagined myself sitting or lying there, drinking tea while overlooking the farmland I cultivate and the animals I raise—enjoying a slow life.
Next is the second floor. The stairs are on the right side of the living room. Upstairs, there are six rooms and a balcony.
When you reach the top, there's a hall—balcony to the left, six rooms to the right. Each room has its own bathroom.
The balcony faces the front gate. Sometimes we can sit there, drinking tea, watching people walk by on the road—quite relaxing.
My room is beside the stairs. I built a platform bed with storage underneath—basically just a raised wooden platform with a mattress on top. The wardrobe is on the left.
Lina's room is next to mine, but with a mirrored layout. The remaining four rooms are currently empty; Lani sleeps with Lina.
Now we come to the rooftop. It's surrounded by tempered glass. I don't have any plans for it yet, so it's completely empty.
After finishing the interior, it's time for the exterior. I mentioned designing it, but honestly it isn't anything impressive. I simply turned the back-facing kitchen wall into a glass door, laid tiles, and built a roofed area. That's about it.
Alright, that's the end of our house tour. Clap clap.
"Karen, you've worked hard. Let me cook today."
"Sure, but you're coming to exercise with me first."
"Mm! I'll do my best!"
Lina was fired up and exercised like crazy, only to end up too exhausted to move. So I ended up cooking instead.
For the next few days, Lina kept at her workout routine. Then one day she excitedly told us she was slimmer than before, bouncing around with joy.
And then came October 13th—Lina's first day working at the Adventurers' Guild. The one teaching her was Jessica, who wanted to quit as soon as possible, yet still had to guide a very nervous Lina. Despite longing to resign, Jessica was a responsible person; she taught Lina everything from beginning to end without skipping a single detail.
Because Lina's learning ability was practically genius-level, Jessica quickly handed over her No. 2 counter position to her.
Dex, Sally, and the other staff were shocked. Jessica praised Lina with a serious face, then frantically hinted to Dex—over and over—that she could finally leave the Guild now.
Meanwhile, I stayed at the Guild the entire day with Lani in my arms, observing everything. I also chatted with the noisy crowd to collect all the gossip I missed during the ten-plus days we'd been isolated.
All in all, Lina's first day at work went very smoothly. My only worry was whether some annoying flies would try to get close to her. But honestly, Lina should be able to handle that just fine—no need for me to worry at all.